Applicator for hair treating liquid



April 1952 H. E. OBERSTAR ETAL 3,030,958

APPLICATOR FOR HAIR TREATING LIQUID Filed Feb. 5, 1960 United States Patent Ofice 3,030,968 Patented Apr. 24-, 1962 3,030,968 APPLICATOR FOR HAIR TREATING LIQUID Helen E. Oberstar, Glen Ellyn, and Albert Safianofi, Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Feb. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 6,953 2 Claims. (Cl. 132-9) This invention relates to an applicator for applying liquid treating material to hair and pertains more specifically to a device for applying a liquid hair dye to a tress of hair.

One object of the present invention is to provide a device of simple and inexpensive construction for applying a liquid treating material to a tress of hair in place on the head, particularly to a very small or short tress.

Another object is to provide a device for rapidly and thoroughly impregnating a hair tress on the head with a liquid treating material by immersion of the tress in a bath of material while eliminating the necessity for the hands coming into contact with the treating material.

Still another object is to provide a portable device adapted to engage a tress of hair on the head and to be drawn along the length of the tress to immerse each successive portion thereof in a bath of liquid treating material contained in the device.

Still a further object is to provide a device of the type described adapted to treat a limited portion of a hair tress, e.g., the portion near either end of the tress, without treating the remainder of the tress.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the drawing and from the description which follows.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 with a tress of hair extending across the open top of the trough in position to be immersed in the liquid treating material;

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3 with the hair guide member depressed to immerse a portion of the hair tress in the supply of liquid treating material;

FIG. 5 is a view in section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view of the trough in section showing removal of the liquid treating material.

As appears from the drawing, the applicator of the present invention in its preferred embodiment includes a trough 10 having an open top and preferably having one side 12 which slopes outwardly toward the top, the remaining sides being vertical. Trough 10 is adapted to contain a suitable amount of liquid hair-treating mate rial such as a hair dye composition.

Mounted in spaced relation above the open top of trough 10 is a hair guide member 14 suitably dimensioned so that it will fit comfortably into trough 10. Hair guide member 14 and trough 10 are mounted on the ends of the legs of a U-shaped resilient spring 16 which normally maintains guide member 14 in spaced relation above the open top of trough 10, but which is adapted to be readily compressed manually to permit guide member 14 to be urged into trough 10.

Guide member 14 in the preferred embodiment illustrated is triangular in cross section, having a lower margin defined by a pair of downwardly convergent walls 20, 22 having serrated lower edges aligned with each other to provide a plurality of spaced slots 24, 24 opening into the space between the walls. These slots serve to guide the hair tress into and out of the trough and also to distribute the hair more uniformly widthwise of the trough, thus facilitating penetration of the tress by the material; and because of their communication with the hollow interior of guide member 14, they permit the liquid treating material to flow through the hair tress and into the guide member when the latter is urged into the trough 10. A triangular web 30 (FIG. 2) serves to reinforce the connection between trough 10 and spring 16.

In using the device, there is placed in trough 10 a suitable quantity of the desired liquid hair treating material 25. A tress of hair 26 is laid across the open top of trough 10 as shown in FIG. 3, and guide member 14 is then urged downwardly into the trough, carrying with it the hair tress and causing it to be immersed in the treating material 25, as shown in FIG. 4. This can readily be accomplished simply by grasping the two legs of the U-shaped spring 16 in one hand and compressing them. The device is then drawn along the length of the hair tress so that all portions of the tress are progressively immersed in the treating material.

The supply of liquid hair treating material may readily be replenished simply by pouring into the open top of trough 10. When the treating material is to be changed or replaced, it may simply be poured out of the trough member, as shown in FIG. 6, a suitable pouring lip or spout 32 being provided in the upper margin of wall 12. Lip 32 also serves to guide the hair tress through the trough.

The applicator of the present invention may be constructed of a variety of materials having suitable physical properties which are unaffected by the liquid treating material being used. For example, the entire device may be made of metal, or spring 16 alone may be made of metal while the remainder is constructed of glass, synthetic plastic, or other suitable material. In the preferred embodiment the entire device including spring 16 is constructed of a resilient synthetic plastic, preferably being molded as an integral one-piece applicator.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention solely thereto, but to include all of the obvious variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable device for applying liquid treating material to a tress of hair on the head comprising a generally U-shaped spring of a size adapted to be grasped by one hand, the legs of said spring being biased to an open, spaced-apart position, a trough for holding a supply of said material secured to the end of one of said legs with the open face of said trough opposed to the end of the other leg, and a hair guide member secured to the end of said other leg in position to be urged into said trough by manual compression of said spring to immerse a portion of a hair tress in said material.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 in which said guide member is of generally triangular cross-sectional configuration comprising a pair of convergent walls defining the leading edge of said guide member as it enters said trough, the base of said triangular guide member opposite said leading edge being open to the atmosphere, and said leading edge being provided with a plurality of serrated openings permitting said material to flow into and out of said guide member when the leading edge is immersed in material contained within said trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS (Additions May 12 and June 2, 1845) 

